Mika Perkiömäkis dissertation project focuses on meanings of the river in 19701990s Russian prose from an ecocritical perspective. The research material consists of autobiographical works of so-called Village Prose authors from the Siberian countryside. The primary focus of the research is on how the research material represents humankinds relationship with the river, and what meanings are conveyed from this relationship. Perkiömäkis dissertation will show how Russian literature handled questions related to environmental justice, material ecocriticism, and the Anthropocene through the image of the river already before these concepts had been invented.
Background
As a fundamental element of life, the river has been used as a metaphor for a plethora of things in literature. Literature has been a significant forum for the public discussion of social issues in Russia. River imagery has played a key role in building Russian national identity, and modern man has signified himself throughout the ages using the trope of the river.
The focus of the research is on how humankinds relationship with the river and nature is represented in the material, and what meanings are conveyed from this relationship. The genderization of nature in the material, and the general idea of nature as represented in the texts alongside the ideas of modernization, technology and industrialization. The approach to the problem is ecocritical, which implies a biocentric position: all species have inherent value and the interests of whole biosphere take precedence over those of humankind.
Funding source
Academy of Finland
The Emil Aaltonen Foundation
Contact persons
PhD Candidate
Mika Perkiömäki
mika.perkiomaki [at] uta.fi
+358 40 546 1291